Paranormal Studies 101
by LimerenceMag
Summary: Some things can't be explained. Some such events may forever change those involved, and though unexplainable, are undeniable. This was my entry for a 2005 short story competition written under a bunch of crazy parameters.


I know you're wondering why I'm in the class, Paranormal Studies. I know. I can tell you, but I have to warn you the story is not very believable, although every word of it is true. You can believe it, or you can call me a liar, I don't really care. Out of the three of us who were forever affected by this event, I'm the only one who can tell the story, so I will. It all began last summer...

It was a dark and stormy evening. It hadn't rained in some time until this night. It was the first day of June; I'll never forget it. It poured so hard, as if the clouds were making amends for their neglect by quickly giving away all the rain they had. Everyone in the sleepy town was in their own home, peacefully snoring the stormy evening away. I, however, was not as lucky. Mom wanted me to go to the store down the street and pick up some groceries for dinner.

The storm shook and drenched my coat in mockery as I clung to the soggy shelter, even though the rain easily found its way into my coat. I saw the store lights dimly reveal its place down the street in the thick, gray water-soaked air. As the wind jostled and teased my futile attempts to keep warm, I bowed my head and hoped only that the money my mom gave me wasn't wet.

I reached the store and fought with the wind to open the door and came sulking in my cold wetness into the little store. The cashier was the owner of the store. He was an older, chubby man with a nose that shone a dim red. He was pretty tall, and balding, but never wore a hat to hide it. He smiled as he adjusted his apron, "Hello!" he greeted me, "Who sent you in this weather?" I shook my head and explained that my mom wanted groceries. He laughed lightly, "She sure can pick a night to send you out here! Why, I haven't had a customer all day because of this weather." I nodded, and picked out a few things. I walked back over to the cashier and handed him everything.

As the cashier scanned the first item, an alarm went off. I looked frantically around the store. The cashier looked around and hastily grabbed a shotgun under his cash register.

He told me in a serious tone that I had never heard before to keep my head down until he came back. I nodded and ducked behind the cash register table. He walked carefully out of the store and into the wind, rain and howling storm. I waited with bated breath and strained my ears to hear anything at all, but all I could hear was the howling and screeching of the ever-tumultuous storm. Suddenly, I heard something slam into the door. Shortly after, I heard the door crack and groan as it was forced open. I huddled forward, embracing my knees and holding my breath.

I had always believed that UFOs did not exist, but the events that occurred last summer changed my mind. I never really had given much thought to UFOs and aliens, but I guess even if I did, I still wouldn't have found any reason to believe in their existence, until that night. I heard a sound, much like the sound of scurrying mice, but that sound was different. I knew that mice would be running inside houses for shelter from such a storm, but my gut told me that this was no mouse making the noise. I breathed slowly, with my anxiety held up in my tense lungs. I began to sweat and shake. I tried not to move, hoping, praying, that whatever it was that came in wouldn't find me.

Another five tense minutes passed, it seemed more like five anxious eternities. For five minutes, no sound had crossed my hearing. Nothing. Even the storm seemed to hush during that time. My knees shook. I argued with myself to either stay put and die, or get up and look around, and probably die as well. Against all of my common sense, I shakily stood up from where I crouched and gave the darkened convenience store a good look.

Well… anyway, there I was, surrounded by dark, silent shadows. My heart froze. Everything in my body turned to ice. The shadows stared on with their dim blue eyes. They spoke in a hideous, frightful language of snarls and clicks. The circle around me grew tighter; I could feel their darkness close in on me. My heart beat so fast it couldn't keep up with its pace. I felt that if the shadows didn't kill me first, I would explode. I shook so hard I thought I was having a seizure. They grew closer, and my shaking and heart pounded faster. I blacked out.

I don't know how long I was out. I started to wake up when I heard a woman humming. I thought it was my mother. The humming was so nice. I thought I had a bad dream, and my mom was here to wake me up. I opened my eyes. I looked around, but the vision I had in the back of my eyes of my room faded, and in its place, sand and dust took its form. I was in a desert. I heard the humming and quickly sat up and looked around. I saw a girl, but she was shrouded in dust. The dust cleared slowly as the girl walked toward me. Her face formed from the dirty wind. I recognized her. She lived down the street from me, her name was Donna.

The heat was unbearable. Donna avoided heat exhaustion by wrapping a blanket around her head and wearing it as a hood. She looked at me once and walked through the blinding sand-wind. I got up and followed her, neither of us speaking a word to the other. It felt like hours that we walked through the scorching heat. I thought we were going to die from this heat if the sand-filled wind didn't beat us down first. The wind pushed the sand into my eyes and mouth, making it difficult to breathe and see, but Donna seemed unfazed by all of it. I kept my heat-beaten hands over my face to keep the painful sand from nipping and cutting my lungs apart. I wanted to ask Donna where she was going, but my throat was too dry to form the words. Just when the wind got worst, something formed over the horizon. It was an oasis. I was so happy I wanted to cry, but I didn't want to waste the water. Donna walked the same pace, never slowing or speeding up to meet the oasis.

We got there soon enough, and the wind soon died down. The desert was now still, obedient and silent in the ever-present sun. The wind whispered through the palms, bending with the rush of the cool oasis water on the crystal white sand. It was very hot, but the merciful shade of the palm trees was as comfortable as you could get in the desert. I saw the water in the oasis and ran over to it and dunked my head in. I couldn't drink fast enough to quench my body's immense cry for water. I drank and drank until I had to lift my head to breathe again. I lifted my head and gasped for air hungrily. I blinked and looked around. I was not in the desert anymore. I was in my living room and I just had thrown my head into a pile of pillows. I stayed on all fours and stared at the pillows in absolute puzzlement. I knew that I was just in the desert, my skin still ached from the heat, but I didn't see sand or Donna anywhere.

The doorbell rang and my beeper went off. I got up to answer the door. I never liked the beeper anyway; I would just let someone else answer that. The person at the door beat on it impatiently. I shouted for them to cool it, I was getting there. They ignored me and continued pounding on the door. I walked up to it, and peeked out of the window to see who it was. The knocking stopped. I saw no one outside the door. No one. It must have been a prank. I opened the door to see if someone was outside. As soon as I turned the doorknob, I was no longer in my house.

My eyes crossed and went out of focus. Suddenly I saw a vivid image of an old, moss and vine covered grandfather clock sitting in a dark room. The clock struck midnight. My eyes came back into focus, the vision had left quickly, leaving me with a painful migraine. I held my head and groaned. I heard a scurrying sound, much like before at the store, when I saw those shadows. I snapped my head around and screamed "WAIT!!" But all I saw was ice and snow.

I was in a tundra. I shivered and clutched myself tightly for warmth. I don't know why this was happening or why I was having visions, I just want this whole thing to stop and I want to go home. I took a couple of frigid, labored steps in the tundra and looked around for a way out. The snow under my feet crumpled. I yelled out "Hello?!" hoping someone would hear me. I heard my echo trail off through the tundra. I kept walking through the frozen wasteland as the wind sent frozen needles through my entire body. I held myself tightly and looked for any signs of life. Suddenly, the snow beneath my feet snapped and broke. I felt myself slip and fall down a snow trap. I fell through the darkness. I looked frantically around for something to grab on to, but all that met me was blackness. I closed my eyes and waited for my body to splat on the ground below. I felt myself land gently on the ground. My heart stopped. I clutched my chest and let myself down on the ground gently. I had too much adventure for one day. I just wanted to go home. My heart pounded furiously. I tried to control my breathing, but my body shook and sucked in air by the lung-full. I shook my head gently and tried to regain my composure. I looked around, to find out where I had landed, but all that met my eyes was a thick mysterious fog. I stood up and strained my eyes to see any signs of someone nearby. I heard a sound. I quickly turned around to see a figure moving closer through the fog. I stepped back and cried out, "Who's that? Who are you?" I heard a low muffled sound.

I cried out again, "Who's there?" I saw the figure get closer. Blue eyes shone in the fog. I gasped and leaped backward, "Where am I?! Why did you bring me here?! ANSWER ME!" The blue eyes disappeared with the shadow. A new blackness came quickly behind it. My eyes widened. I braced myself. The strange blackness emerged from the fog and faded into color. Another neighbor formed from the shadow, Jane. She lived next door to me.

She saw me and ran over to give me a hug, "Oh! It's you! I mistook you for someone else!" I breathed out in relief and hugged her back. She and I chatted a little as both of us wandered through the fog, hoping to find some way out of this mysterious place. In the distance, Jane and I saw a large shadow. Jane ran ahead of me. I tried to keep up.

I yelled out to her, "Wait! Let's not get separated!" But Jane quickly became a strange black shadow running through the mist again.

As the mist parted, Jane could see the shadows of a huge estate cast by the full moon. She became excited, she yelled out for me, "Come here! I think I've found something!" I followed the sound of her voice. Her silhouette formed. I kept running until suddenly, I ran into her.

"Sorry." I said to Jane, after almost knocking her to the ground.

She shook her head and smiled, "Let's go. I'm sure someone's inside."

She and I walked around the dark mansion, looking for a way inside. We walked for what seemed like an eternity, hoping to find a door or window we could enter through. Our wish was granted and a door appeared through the fog on the mansion. Jane and I hurried to it and tugged on it. It resisted, and we tugged harder. It gave way with a protesting groan, revealing an old Victorian-style interior. The corners of the room were covered in cobwebs and vines had snugly wrapped themselves over the staircase. The floor was made of old, worn marble tiles, covered in dust and debris. Jane and I cautiously ventured inside. We entered, hearing a scurrying and chirping.

I looked at Jane with concern, "Maybe we should go back." Jane shook her head and dragged me by the arm further into the house. She led me into a room.

Maybe once it was a study. The dark room had an old, deteriorated sofa, next to a bookcase, the books of which were so worn that the titles on the spines could no longer be read. There was a piano, but vines had claimed it as its territory. The carpet was covered by a thick moss. I looked around to see Jane, and found her studying the grandfather clock. My heart jumped to see it. It looked strangely familiar to me. I started to call her. She interrupted and looked at me.

"Give me that candle." I looked around for a candle, and saw one sitting on the table next to the sofa. I picked it up gingerly and gave it to Jane. She pulled out a match from her pocket and lit it. She turned back around to study the clock.

"Hand me that piano," she said over her shoulder.

I blinked in puzzlement, "What?"

She shook her head, "Hand me that piano"

I looked back at the piano and shook me head, "How am I supposed to do that?"

She sighed, "Give me one of its legs."

I stared at her in utter confusion, "And how do you propose I do that?"

She let out a deep sigh, "Well, find me something I can use then." I looked around the room. I saw a slender rusted metal poker next to the vine and moss covered fireplace. I gave it to Jane. She handed me the candle and lifted the poker in the air in front of the clock.

"What are you doing?!" I screamed at her.

The wind blew and then the candle's flame disappeared. The curtains stirred violently. The wind howled and groaned. Jane and I dropped to the floor and covered our heads. We both screamed as the wind howled and whistled. It beat both our backs and tried to pull out our hair. I closed my eyes and wished it would end. I let out a final scream and that was it. There's no more to tell.

I don't know what happened after that. All I remember is standing in front of my house in my ragged, heat and freeze ruined clothes wondering how I got there. Donna was never found again, and Jane went mute after what happened. I don't see her much anymore. Whenever I do see her, she's sitting on her porch, staring off into space, rocking in her chair. The doctors couldn't explain it, but I know how it happened. That's why I'm in this class, after all.

The main reason I took this class was to tell my story. I can't really think of any other reason I took it. I just wanted to say that I didn't believe in aliens before this experience, and now, I don't know if I believe even after what I went through. It's hard to imagine this happening, even if you go through it yourself. I still look back on it and sometimes wonder if it was all just a dream. I can honestly say that I have had enough adventures in my lifetime and wouldn't mind a nice long boring period about now. I guess that's all I have to say. I don't really have advice for you, just a story you can tell your kids on a stormy night, I suppose. If you don't mind, I'll be going now, class is starting in five minutes.


End file.
